In a release, Khan said it was not surprising to learn that some 150 medical graduates are unable to find employment.

He said while graduates who conducted their studies through the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus are registered with the Medical Board to practice their craft at private health institutions after only one year of prerequisite training, those persons who may have studied at regional or international institutions are required to serve three years of prerequisite training before being granted the same rights.

Khan said as a result of the budget cuts which occurred at the Ministry of Health in the early part of 2016 the Regional Health Authorities were forced to reduce the intake of these returning medical graduates.

“As such, these persons are now in a precarious position wherein the public health institutions are not able to accommodate their prerequisite training due to their capacity, and therefore these persons who are academically qualified to practice medicine are being prevented from doing so due to this antiquated and inequitable rule,” he said.

Khan said it was “discriminatory and injurious” to the medical field to have so many trained and certified medical professionals unable to practice their profession due to a regulation that is meant to give preference to persons who have studied at UWI, St Augustine.

To level the playing field, Khan said the Board needs to either reduce the number of years for their pre-requisite training to match that of UWI graduates; or, allow these persons to acquire their training at private health institutions.

He said by removing the constraint for graduates to conduct their prerequisite training at public health institutions only they are given a better opportunity to fulfil the requirements for registration with the Medical Board by training at the private health institutions and earning a wage.

“But as long as the Medical Board continues to prevent these citizens from acquiring their registration, based solely on the basis of where they studied, this is not only a disservice to these graduates but to the entire nation who are suffering due to the decline in health care delivery that results from this,” he said.

“Tonight, I call on each one here to examine your consciences and rekindle and reawaken the spirit of unity as we stand together hand in hand with others in other communities as one proud community so as to secure a just and equitable society both for ourselves, our people, our nation and for generations to come,” he said.

Gopeeingh was addressing guests at an Arrival Day Dinner, hosted by the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS), at Radisson Hotel, Port-of-Spain.

In making the appeal, Gopeesingh wondered if enough was being done to strengthen families and communities.

“Are we being the change that we wish to see?” he asked.

“Therefore, I urge you to stand firmly behind our torch bearers, our champions, our stalwarts who continue unafraid and undaunted in the pursuit of our freedom of expression and our right to practice our cultural beliefs.” Gopeesingh told the audience that East Indians had faced much discrimination over the generations.

“Today’s young descendants and young generations can never imagine or even appreciate the outright discrimination that our ancestors had to overcome in order that we can now live in a country where one cannot be made to feel ashamed of our names and religion or of our food and culture.” The Opposition MP related a story of how his late father-inlaw, the first Hindu doctor to return to Trinidad and Tobago from the University of Chicago from 1936, had complained about the discrimination he faced when he was appointed as senator on the West Indian Federation, more than two decades later.

“He said in 1959, when he was appointed a senator on the West Indian Federation, the other one being Mrs Margaret White when the DLP had beaten the PNM in the federal election, there was an outright refusal to take a group photo of the senators and their spouses because his wife wore as a sari,” Gopeesingh recalled.

The former education minister added that after the DLP’s victory, there was a statement of “recalcitrant minority.” “Even today, some 58 years later, one has to contend with statements about racial dotishness. Our struggles are far from over,” he said in an allusion to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s recent response to those who spoke out against calls by retired TT batting star Brian Lara to have one of the stands in the Cricket Academy in Tarouba named in honour of his friend, Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar.

Gopeesingh urged the audience to resist attempts by political elements to mobilise the electorate “by referring to us as alligators in murky lagoon” or if you support a political party, “the Calcutta ship will be waiting to take over the island.” He told guests they must always remember the role of their forefathers in nation-building.

During the event, special tribute was paid to Pandit Bhadase Seetahal Maraj, First Vice-President of the SDMS and President of the Pandits’ Parishad, for his contribution to education and the development of East Indians in TT.

His sister, Indira Ali, 53, who was shot in the right leg was resting at home. The two were shot on Monday by two men who jumped the gates of their home Second Street, New Settlement. The gunmen ran off after shooting the siblings.

Sookdeo’s daughter Natalia told Newsday yesterday, her father is unable to speak and is responding with the use of his hands.

She said since the incident the family has been unable to sleep.

Police suspect robbery was the motive behind the shooting but the gunmen ran off empty-handed as residents were alerted to the sounds of the gunshots. Sookdeo retired three years ago from the Fire Service and now works as a security officer. An arrest is yet to be made and Couva police are investigating.

Are the issues of a $52,000 plus phone bill and a $92,000 hotel bill as critical as reported? The Leader of the Opposition is reported as calling for heads to roll and another member of the Opposition is reported as saying the hotel bill is a scandal of immense proportion.

Additionally, the Prime Minister has called for an explanation from the minister.

How is this a political scandal? None of the ministers involved stand to gain from the transactions. What these transactions indicate is the need for better management structures at the ministries.

It is the public servants that plan and pay for these public engagements.

In the case of the phone bill, one cannot expect a minister of government representing the country abroad to not have access to data. A data plan should have been organised and put in place before the trip. To blame the minister after the fact seems to be a bit unfair. It’s no wonder that business professionals steer clear of politics. Bills of this nature are common in international business.

The second area is that of the Sports Minister’s Tobago trip. This trip, according to reports, was planned by the Sports Ministry.

It is up to the technicians at the ministry to arrange the trip. The minister could not have gained financially from the trip and one would hope that no minister of government is so needy that he needs a few nights in a hotel for sustenance.

While a few thousand dollars remain the focus of the media and Opposition, the millions spent on a few hideous concrete structures in Maracas and the millions more budgeted to be spent for the completion of the project escape scrutiny. The millions spent on placing a few cylinders across the Beetham Highway raise no eyebrows. The millions spent on the waste water treatment plant on the Beetham and the millions more needed for completion are not in focus. The millions spent and millions more needed for the highway to Point Fortin don’t seem to be scandalous. No one called for heads to roll or labelled as a scandal the hundreds of thousands or perhaps millions of dollars spent for the frequent use of the State helicopter by the former prime minister to travel around TT .

One wonders if the focus on the thousands is simply a way of ensuring that we turn away from the millions given out in contracts where, unlike the two transactions in focus, politicians can directly or indirectly benefit financially.

STEVE ALVAREZ via email

I’m speaking of the vendor on Queen’s Park East (in the vicinity of Holy Name Convent and a primary school).

Each time I drive along that road, I wonder why this vendor is allowed to block the walkway with her big cart while her customers block an entire lane of traffic flowing around the Queen’s Park Savannah and nothing is done about it, either by the police or the city corporation.

Please, Mr Mayor, don’t be selective in your actions against vendors.

Kindly remove this vendor since I’m certain it’s illegal to vend there.

A CHARLES Mount Hope

In a statement, the council complained that the minority bench repeatedly disrupted the fourth sitting of the House, showing a total lack of respect for the presiding officer of the THA.

“What adds intolerable insult to insufferable injury was the fact that the minority were outside engaging in further shenanigans when it was time to conduct the affairs of the people they were elected to represent,” The PNM’s Tobago arm said.

“ To b a g o n i a n s should note the inexcusable absence of the minority when in accordance with Section 20 of the Tobago House of Assembly Standing Orders the Presiding Officer gave way for the adjournment of the Assembly on definite matter of urgent public importance – urgent business that this very Minority claimed they were not allowed to discuss in the very first sitting of the 2017-2021 session of the Assembly.” At the sitting, Duke, who is also the outgoing President of the Public Services Association, described as “flittered, untimely and vexacious,” a motion moved by Secretary of Community Development, Enterprise Development and Labour Marslyn Melville-Jack, which called for initiatives to strengthen private and public partnerships in Tobago.

Duke insisted there were more pressing issues to be dealt with on the sister isle, including the ongoing problems on the sea bridge.

“As I read the motion, I was almost moved to tears to think that we are speaking about development, to think that we are speaking about sustaining communities, to think that we are talking about families and nothing at all has been mentioned about the ABC of families,” he had said at the sitting.

“The fundamental rudiment to develop a family and sustain economies is the need for food and security and I though the motion would have been about that. The minority council will not be supporting this motion.” Duke subsequently called on the executive council to deal with the important issues affecting Tobago.

In a release, the NCHRA quoted its CEO Davlin Thomas who said, “The NCRHA is at present increasing its capacity to accommodate members of the public in need of dialysis treatment. Four additional haemodialysis machines are being purchased, with one to be allotted to special needs patients, i.e patients with infections like HIV and Hepatitis B, effectively increasing capacity to treat with this group.” The Authority also highlighted the consistent decreases in hospital based or hospital acquired (nosocomial) infections at the facilities it manages as well as no issues of patient infection at the Dialysis Unit of the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.

Thomas said, “Because of our proactive and systematic quality risk management approach to Infection Prevention Control (IPC) within the NCHRA, we can boast that at the EW MSC the nosocomial infection rate at the hospital as a whole has been reduced by 50 percent.

At the Mt. Hope Women’s Hospital there has been an 83 percent decrease.” The NCHRA said it was constantly mitigating against conditions that facilitate the spread of infections and as a result at the EW MSC they have observed all quality risk management protocols to minimise the existence of any condition that would accommodate the spread of infections at their facility.

However, one could see that despite increasing manpower in the past the problems are still with us and at a much higher and destructive rate.

All the signs are that policemen have passed their sell-by date and our police system needs outside help and officers need proper training and a sense of civic duty and patriotism. The police need moral guidance and good and respectful effective management, and this can only be obtained from having an outside commissioner of police and a team of his supporters. Locally born and bred policemen have had decades to enforce law and order and halt the widespread criminal activities and general lawlessness. So far they have failed. Therefore, adding more men to an already incompetent force will make no difference whatsoever. The lack of essential qualities in many of our policemen is evident by the amount of so-called trained officers now jumping on the criminal bandwagon. The police have also become a law onto themselves and need to be brought back into line. This is evident in two major events in recent years: the apparent forcing out of commissioner Dwayne Gibbs and his deputy, Jack Ewatski, and the islandwide roadblock in 2015, which brought the country to a near standstill.

GA MARQUES via email

But what if we choose instead to take a position of support for what we believe to be right? Well, we will find no supportive group surrounding us. In fact, we risk being shouted down by contradicting others. To stand for what is right you often have to stand alone.

Consider the situation of Barrabas and Christ. Were those seeking Christ’s crucifixion in the right? No. Were they even in the majority? Perhaps not.

However, Christ’s supporters had either fallen silent or fallen away from him; this for the purpose of remaining safe from the crowd or going even further and ensconcing themselves within its bosom.

For the support of Christ and the Christian position, many throughout the years have stood alone and paid severe consequences.

Nowadays, though there is no longer any persecution of the church on this side of the world, is it that Christians are still falling silent or falling away simply to join the crowd? I support the paying of property tax as a Christian and a Trinidadian. I do not, unlike others, have one issue with the tax. My God and my country have been supremely good to me and I can’t wait to contribute to TT at this time in this way.

As for my fellow Christians and citizens, stand alone when you believe something to be right; forget the crowd. Write a letter, post a comment, speak out. Support.

ANISA GRANT via email

This was the agreement arrived at following a High Court application filed by the Tunapuna/ Piarco Regional Corporation last week .

According to the TPRC’s claim, Enigma Events Limited – the operators of the Expo which is located opposite the Centre of Excellence in Macoya – did not have the necessary building approvals from the corporation .

Justice Carol Gobin presided over the matter which was brought by the corporation’s chairman and council against Enigma Events Limited .

The corporation was represented by attorney Farai Hove Masaisai instructed by the firm of Hove and Associates while Enigma Events Limited was represented by attorney Simon de la Bastide instructed by Nyree Alfonso .

At the hearing, Enigma Events’ attorney agreed that his client did not have the approval from the corporation’s engineer, but submitted that the TPRC lacked the required rights to facilitate the proceedings .

In a spirit of compromise, Justice Gobin initially provided an option for the temporary operation of the business given the closeness of Indian Arrival day after which Enigma Events would be required to seek the necessary approvals .

However after deliberations, Engima Events gave the undertaking to cease and desist from conducting any trade or business operations on or before 11:59 p.m. on the June 6 .

The operators of the Indian Expo have also agreed to begin dismantling its white tent on June 7 and this is to be completed by June 13. Engima Events have also agreed to approach the TPRC to attain the necessary approvals for all future structures before commencing any trade or business operations .

They were also ordered to pay the TPRC’s costs in the sum of $2,500 .

In a statement, the TPRC said that its chairman Paul Leecock and members of council were willing to explore the option to allow Enigma Events to continue operations until June 6 just after the Indian Arrival Day Celebrations since according to the chairman “we support and welcome all form of legitimate economic activity in the Tunapuna/Piarco Region” The corporation noted that the action was pursued in the High Court since its council felt that it was imperative that all businesses in the region meet the required standards as set out in the Municipal Corporation Act for operating within the region and by so doing protect the wider interest of all of all burgesses .

The corporation also encouraged all business and burgesses to seek the lawful approvals from Council prior to setting up trade and/or constructing any structure within the region .